By Sofia Nasir
KUALA LANGAT, March 29 — The Statistics Department (DOSM) is expecting half of the country’s population aged 18 and above to register with the Central Integrated Database (Padu) before the deadline this Sunday.
Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said this is based on the sudden increase in registrations, which stands at 9.24 million since yesterday.
“As of yesterday, 9.24 million people have registered. This number accounts for 42.1 per cent of the 21 million population aged 18 and above.
“We hope to see the figure reach up to 50 per cent within the next three days before Padu registration closes on March 31,” he told reporters following a visit to the Padu registration counters opened at Dewan Orang Ramai Kampung Sungai Buaya, here today.
Also present was Selangor State DOSM director Hartini Yaacob.
Meanwhile, Mohd Uzir said Perlis has recorded the highest percentage of Padu registration at 54.4 per cent, followed by Terengganu (50.2 per cent) and Kelantan (50 per cent).
He said five other states are also approaching the registration rate of 50 per cent, namely Pahang, Perak, Sabah, Sarawak, and Kedah.
“We have set up 6,000 counters nationwide. We are also considering opening the counters as early as 7am on the last day of registration,” he said.
On January 2, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim launched Padu, which is a system containing individual and household information of Malaysian citizens and permanent residents to improve assistance by centralising income and socio-economic data.
Registration can be done through the website www.padu.gov.my until March 31.
